Entifor

Project Review:

This is another outsource project that’s been done by us. It is clearly visible what negative impact you can show your visitors when you don’t know how to do the task properly.

Many people think that they can design a website as soon as they know a few things and got their hands on the necessary software to do so. But unfortunately they do more harm than good, and not only do they sent out the wrong impression, but they do play with the client’s name. A clients name and corporate image is very important and if your website is way below the normal standard and looked rather like a MS Word document then you should know that you are way over your head. Get professional help, you can still earn an income out of the deal.

Again it can’t be mentioned more as in how important it is to get a qualified web designer with SEO skills to do the job. You will save yourself a lot of frustration, time and money in doing so!

This is how the design looked before hand.

This is how the design looked afterwards.

Link To Website:

http://www.entifor.co.za

Darz Web Studio

Project Review:

As part of our affiliated marketing program we offered 10 people the opportunity to have their own Web Studios. This is our first official home base web studio owner’s website.  Congratulations and a warm welcome to the team of JJs Freelancing!

The header was designed by the owner himself and after we saw that we knew that we are going to be put to the test. The owner is a very young and energetic guy whom has a lot of creativity and likes to play with colours. We have spent a lot of time and effort in this project and we have tried several new features for the first time, which was quite exciting.

We have added a flash portfolio which looks like a book that’s been paged, quite nice if I can say so myself. The site map that we have added for the convenience of the visitors is also much more advances than the normal once that we use. The ecommerce feature is standard and has not been changed. We did split the comments/feedback, frequently asked questions and testimonials so that the visitor has a better opportunity to find the information they are looking for. Each of these sections also has its own form feature so that it is much better and quicker to do the administration. The how to find us page has a Google map on it as quick reference. A “Follow Us On Facebook” page is been added where visitors can read all the information posted by the owner.

The owner is very happy with his web studio website and we wish him all the luck and happy nice.

Link To The Website:

http://www.darzwebstudio.co.za

Chief Kitwi Native Healer

Project Review:

This is our proof that we are willing to design a web site for who ever you are and what ever your business is about, within our terms and conditions. Professor Kitwi and Doctor Mondo are well know in the Northern Cape region for their success as herbalists. Their web site is designed around their needs and according to their specifications.

Link to the web site:

http://www.chiefkitwinativehealer.co.za

To ensure that the highest standards will always be achieved we are going to limit this offer to only 10 web studio business opportunities. This will ensure that you and your clients will always get the best and fastest service possible. It will also ensure that we will always be able to assist you in a personal way whatever your needs may be.

• You don’t need any web design skills at all
  • we are going to do all the hard work for you
  • we will ensure that everything is in place and according to the highest standard
• It would be very helpful and an advantage if you have a bit of background about the Internet and how a website work
• You will need at least a computer with Internet access, if you have a laptop with Internet access then it would be even more helpful because then you can be mobile

What must you do?

• Apply by completing the online Web Studio Business Opportunity application form
• You will have to register as a small business at the necessary authorities – your accountant can assist you with this.
  • Sole Owner – One Man Business
    • The easiest and best way with the least fuzz
    • The cheapest option too
  • SARS
    • LBS – personal income tax
    • VAT – value added tax
  • Accountant
    • for your book keeping if you can’t do it yourself
• You need to provide us with the name of your web studio
  • We need this to register a domain name for your web studio website
• You advertise your web studio in your local newspaper and on the Internet should you have the knowledge to do it
  • we are also going to advertise your web studio on your behalf, because we want you to succeed
• You will have to contact clients and offer them your services
  • we will provide you guidelines
• You collect all the details and material needed from the client and provide it to us
  • we will handle all the registrations and setups
  • we will design the website for you according to the clients specifications and needs
  • we will ensure that all the necessary SEO aspects are in place
  • after approval we will list the website at all the major search engines and start a marketing campaign
• You will follow up and provide feedback to your client as the project progresses
• You will have to invoice and collect payment from the client on approval of the completed project
• You will have to pay us our fees for our services before we will release the project
• There are no small print and all the profits are yours to keep

What do you get?

• A fully functional website that will serve as your biggest marketing tool
  • We will administrate, design and maintain your web studio website to our highest standards
  • We will handle all the updates that has to be done on this website
  • You will have a portfolio where all your completed projects will be showcased as testimonial and reference for your new clients
  • Your contact details will be provided to the visitors
  • Your prices will be listed
• Guidelines that will;
  • assist you in the marketing of your web studio
  • guidelines and web design solution descriptions
  • pricing guidelines
• You will receive feedback on your projects
  • You will receive a designer’s link for every project so that you and your client can follow the progress of the project and provide us with input on suggested possible changes
    • the project will be uploaded to the correct domain after approval and payments has been settled
  • You will know at all times which projects is still in progress and which is completed and pending approval and payment
• You keep all the profits after you have paid us our design and setup fees which will be a standard flat rate at all times
• You will have the exclusive opportunity to take part in our online advertising campaigns which will allow your clients to advertise on our Internet Marketing websites
  • We design the advertisements within our standards and terms and conditions
  • This will provide you with a passive income as long as your client advertises with us
• We will provide you with very useful tips and tricks to grow your web studio business, after all we are doing it since 2005
• You will have our full technical support and we will assist you in all your queries

What does it cost?

• This is a business opportunity to only a few dedicated people and therefore we do have a service fee payable,
  • Please Note: This is not a franchise opportunity
  • The service fee charged is an administrative and setup fee to start your web studio business
• Service fee includes the following;
  • your web studio website
    • registration of your own personal web studio domain
    • hosting for one year
      • the year thereafter your hosting will be charged at R780,00 per year
    • fully functional designed website
      • each web studio will have its own unique design and layout
      • we do not use templates
    • all updates and maintenance of your web studio website will be done free of charge
  • Web Studio Owners Guide – Document
    • Management Overview
    • Service descriptions
    • Marketing Tips and Tricks
  • Total cost is R2 500,00 once off – no hidden costs!

“If you really want to change your world, you have to change your thinking!” Great words spoken from Sir Laurens Olivia, but unfortunately it is the truth. We have done just that and we are making a success in what we do. Wouldn’t you also like to be part of a success story? If you are serious about your future and if you think you have what it take to be your own boss then apply now for your own Web Studio Business Solution.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us should you need more assistance.

We brain stormed these survey results to find a possible way to make all the couch potatoes out there productive to the society and gain in it as a marketing niche. It was clear that the marketers are going to do the least at the lowest cost ever possible and we are going to do the most. We have come up with a plan and we are going to pay you for almost doing nothing, should the results be favorable and prosperous!

We want you to refer potential clients to us, whom you think might be interested in a website. Now don’t think that you can fool us, because we will suspend you if we have the slightest doubt that you are trying to play games with us.

What do you need?

• You don’t need any skills at all
• You don’t need to negotiate with the client
• You don’t need to do door to door sales
• You will not need a computer
• You don’t need Internet access
• You only need a mobile phone that can send SMS’s! Just let your brain and thumb do the work and I’ll be dam if you can’t do that then you are pretty much dead!

What must you do?

• You have to register as an affiliate marketer by completing the application form either online or fax the printed version to us
  • We will confirm your registration within one working day from where you will be able to start referring and earn
• You have to look for people in your town that you think might need a website
  • Guest Houses, Arts & Crafts, Photographers, Entrepreneurs and much more
• You provide us with the following details by SMS;
  • contact details
  • contact person
  • description of what they do
• If you are one of the few people who really want to do more than thumb exercises then you can advertise in your local newspapers and elsewhere you might want to. The more you advertise the better your results and leads will be, because the person that does contact you really want your services.

What do you get?

• You will receive a once off commission based income paid to you per completed project after the client had paid for their services as follow;
  • Starter Pack – R
  • Business Pack – R
  • Advance Pack –  R
  • Rented Web Page – R
• You will receive feedback on your leads with the comments provided by the clients
  • You can follow up these feedbacks and try to convince the client to have a website
  • You will know at all times which projects is still
    • pending to be contacted
    • which is completed and paid for
    • which are not interested

What does it cost?

• To be an affiliate marketer is completely for free
  • It is formulated around the terms that you earn the most and spend the least

“If you really want to change your world, you have to change your thinking!” Great words spoken from Sir Laurens Olivia, but unfortunately it is the truth. We have done just that and we are making a success in what we do. Wouldn’t you also like to be part of a success story? If you want to become an affiliate marketer please complete this  application form.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us should you need more assistance.

Kameeldoring Properties

Project Review:

This is my first design for a real estate agent. I looked at several other designs for real estate agents and I decided that I want a complete different approach, because they all looked so stereo type. I did not want to use the same template most designers used. The most important factors to me were the function and the availability of the data to the visitors.

My aim was to make it as easy as possible for the visitor to find the properties he/she is looking for. Features that were important for me was, dividing the properties into price categories and property types whether it is a commercial, agricultural, industrial or residential property. The visitor should also has the ability to search for individual property aspects such as for a large kitchen, swimming pool, servants quarters, Lapa, exc. which will then only show the properties with theses listed criteria.

Property listing is also for many people a big problem and I had incorporated this feature also into this web site. Advertising your property online is now very easy and effective. The visitors complete the online for and add the photos of the property on the same form. The web site then e-mails this form to the real estate agent with the photos as attachments. The contact the seller to confirm the online property listing submission, agree on the terms and conditions and the agent activate the listing.

I am very happy with this project at this stage since it does everything I want from it. My client is also happy since they can edit and add property information as needed.

Link to the web site:

http://kameeldoringproperties.co.za

Domonique Hornsby Attorneys

Project Review:

This is our first web site for an attorney and we are very proud and happy to be the webmaster for Domonique Hornsby Attorneys. It give us great pleasure to design and administrate this web site. Domonique is a young and energetic attorney who will solve all your legal needs.

Link:

http://www.kathu-attorney.co.za

All of a sudden a lot of designers and companies offer so called cheap web solutions and it is remarkable how many dropped their prices astronomical to get business. With this trend going on around us we realize that our prices where reasonable from the beginning. Many told us that we where to cheap and many more said that it’s too good to be true, and then there where the skeptics who said that it is a scam. And here we still stand today doing business as before without having to change our prices, neither our standards.

Now one have to wonder if everybody is dropping their prices, will the service be still the same, or do they now have to accidently exclude some vital services, that could cost you more in the long run and that will cause your most important Internet Advertisement to fail.

For the past 4 years we have the same rates and our services have even improved regarding our designs and SEO abilities. What do you want, and what will make the difference when you have to choose a web designer?

What does our low cost web design solution offer you?

• Security & Privacy
  • you will be contacted directly by your new clients on the contact details you supplied,
  • we do not handle your sales neither do we receive your money,
  • we do not collect banking details neither credit card information,
  • our web site designs are browser friendly and we do not use malware or any spyware components,
  • mail list information will not be used for any reason other than stipulated by you,
  • we do not resell personal information,
  • we do not believe in SPAM, we declared war against SPAM,
  • we support the regulations of ISPA (Internet Services Providers Association).
• Stability
  • your advertising campaign in the form of your web site will always be available for everybody to see,
  • we do not overload our servers, therefore our downtime are restricted to maintenance only,
  • we only use state of the art equipment, and we don’t gamble,
• Publicity
  • your campaign will be seen by millions of internet users not just in South Africa, but all over the world, imagine an overseas visitor booking into your guest house, or visiting your business just because they found you on the web,
• Personalized
  • your web site will be personally designed and maintained to your unique needs and services,
• Cost Effective
  • you will save money on our low cost web design solutions, and your overall advertising budget,
  • your web site will be a long term advertising campaign, that will benefit you more the longer it is active,
  • it is an investment in the growth of your business,
  • See our price list for more details.
• Optional Bonuses
  • Maintenance
    • we will assure that your web site will be designed and maintained in a professional, but still personal manner,
    • we will assure that your web site is listed on all the major search engines
  • Feedback
    • we will keep you updated with reports regarding your web sites performance and changes that we think is necessary to improve performance,
  • Optional Advertising Campaigns
    • we will promote your web site where ever we can to ensure that you get the most possible visitors

We offer a very competitive and cost effective Web Designing Solution that’s affordable to everybody and we specialize to assist small businesses, guest houses, home base businesses and entrepreneurs.

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you need more assistance.

Trust us with your future, we know how important it is!

Outsourcing nowadays is the most popular way of getting the job done. For many small businesses and corporate companies it is the easiest, cheapest and fastest option. You don’t need to employ additional staff to complete the project and you don’t even have to get additional office space. What a saving you might think!

But, that is the big picture that everybody sees, and they don’t see the small print behind outsourcing. As we said many times before and we will tell it even more in the future. Many clients’ first experiences of having a web site are not always a pleasant one. Because they where blindfolded by the designers to overlook the potholes in the road ahead.

Outsource has its good points don’t make a mistake about that, but you need to be aware of the small print. We have done a case study regarding outsourcing and we have found out that as much as 85% of all completed web design projects has so much loopholes and uncompleted phases that the web site in the long run will mean absolutely nothing. These are stunning designs with excellent graphics and flash components, but the main aspects are not done.

You have to do your homework when you choose an outsourcing web designer. There are literally thousands claiming that they do everything. But meantime back at the range, nothing was done. Then there is the price factor, that’s also very important. After a long time the client will complain about the progress of the web site and the designers then state it clearly that SEO and Internet Marketing is optional. Again the client has to pay to get it fixed, or in most cases the client will get somebody else to do the job, because the trust factor was broken.

At JJs Freelancing we provide an all in one trusted, web design outsource service that includes everything at no optional costs. We know that your web site is your most important advertising media and therefore we don’t play games with it, at least we have our reputation and good name at risk.

We don’t guaranteed you a place on the first page of Google, because nobody can, and that’s been confirmed by Google themselves. But we do guaranteed that you will get a good page ranking within a very short time frame from Google, which is much more important to us in the long run than a quick place on the first page.

Trust us with your web site and we will ensure you that it will rich heights above your expectations and you will be happy and satisfied with the progress and feedback.

A web site is like a good wine; the older it gets the more mature and rich in value it will be, We know this since we are already 5 years in the trade.

Techno Concrete Floors

Project Review:

This is an outsource project done for SA Web Rent.

Link:

http://www.technofloors.co.za

Resources:

None

Dummies Info

Project Review:

This is one of my biggest projects. Dummies Info is a Tourism and Information Bureau web site for South Africa. There are many simalar web sites like this but none of them has all the information combined in one web site. On this web site you will find Accommodation, Tourism Attractions, Business Listings and CV Listings.

Link:

http://www.dummiesinfo.com

Resources:

None.

Kalahari Kaja

Project Review:

This is a very small guest house that provide excellent overknight accommodation. The service and friendliness is really something to experience. If you are looking for budget accommodation then you should visit Kalahari Kaja.

Link:

http://www.kalaharikaja.com

Resources:

None.

Reflect All Compressors

Project Review:

We design web sites for anybody, where ever you are. Reflect All Compressors in situatated in Cape Town.

Link:

http://www.reflectallcompresors.co.za

Resources:

None.

Zoetje Labradors

Project Review:

Zoetje is one of the finest Labrador breeders in South Africa. This is het web site where she post her own articles and reviews from new puppy owners.

Link:

http://zoetje-labradors.co.za

Resources:

None.

Oude Werf Lodge

Project Review:

This is a very unique guest house with excellent features such as a fully licensed bar, VIP suit, Family Room and an A le Carte Restaurant. Another accommodation venue you should visit when you pass Kuruman on your way to the Kalahari.

Link:

http://www.oudewerf-lodge.co.za

Resources:

None.

De Duine Lodge

Project Review:

This was my first guest house web site. De Duine Lodge is situatated in Kuruman in the Northern Cape and it has the most beautifull sunset view in the Kalahari. The rooms are modern with all the neccesary needs you can think of that will make your stay a pleasant memorable event.

Link:

http://www.deduine-lodge.co.za

JH Photographic

Project Review:

Jan Hendrik is well known for his magnificent and unique wedding photos.

Link To Website:

http://jhphotographic.co.za

Ausleo Construction

Project Review:

This website was designed for a cabinetmaker who really know the art of this craft. Gregory’s  skill and commitment is something outstanding.

Link:

http://www.ausleo.co.za

Resources:

None.

Blogging is no more just for teenagers and techno junkies.

When blogging first became popular, it was often more like a personal diary on the web (the word blog itself is a concatenation of “web log” – a log you keep of your life on the web).  Many people accross the world started to take part in this and it proofed to be a very useful marketing tool. All types of people bloged about more specific related topics, such as motives for instance.  The whole area of business blogging is continuing to gain traction.  More and more savvy small businesses are catching on to the value of blogging. It also seems that blog oriantated website has a much better ranking and perform much better in major searchengines.

What if I don’t care about driving more traffic to my website?

Just like attending trade shows are not just about handing out more business cards, blogging is about more than just driving traffic to your website.  Blogging is about creating awareness for your offering and sharing what makes you unique.  The idea is not just to drive more random traffic, but to increase the number of right prospective clients that find and select you.  Blogging is a great way to increase the number of potential sales opportunities  to grow your revenues.

What if I already have enough clients?

We hear this all the time, particularly from professional firms (lawyers, consultants ,etc.).  With these types of small businesses, the revenue is often a function of the number of partners and they often have more than enough business already.  Even in this case, I would argue that blogging creates value.  The reason is that you currently may be taking on clients that are convenient instead of optimal.

Convenient clients are those that just fall into your lap because it’s a friend of a friend or a referral from an existing client.  You didn’t have to do much to “acquire” the client. The optimal client is one that your offering is perfect for.  This is the client that needs exactly what you offer and will place value on why you are different. If blogging can increase the quality of your client-base (even if you don’t want to increase the quantity).

Increasing the quality of your client-base improves the quality of your business.  Optimal clients stay longer, generate more revenues for you and tend to refer other optimal clients.

How often do I need to blog?

We’ll let you in on a secret.  Though it is always helpful to blog consistently and frequently (that drives the most value), you can get a significant amount of value by writing just a few articles (lets say 4 or 5) and then not blogging again for a while.  

Here’s what I would suggest:  Start by writing just an article or two that is a personal and authentic message about what makes you different.  What you are passionate about.  Pretend as if you are writing directly to your potential optimal customers that are out there reading your content.  What you will find is that just a few blog articles on your website that convey the right message will improve the rate at which you can acquire the right types of clients and generate more sales and revenue.

Example:

Lets say you are a law firm and have over the past several years really done some exceptional work around patent law for bio-tech start-up firms.  Chances are, your website will have some generic statement trying to convey that you’re a “highly specialized patent law firm that has done recent work in bio-tech”.  (Actually, chances are, your website hasn’t been updated in months and may not even say this much).  In any case, now imagine a potential new client coming to the firm’s website.  How likely is it that this potential new client (who would be just perfect for you) will understand how deep your knowledge in this space is?  Do they know that you are perfect for them?  Probably not.  Now, if you had just two blog articles on your firm’s blog that talked about the two most recent engagements you had, the odds increase significantly.  The two articles can describe the type of work you did, what some of the challenges were and the parts that you enjoyed the most.  Even if you never wrote another article for the blog, just these two articles would close more business for your firm.

I’m already insanely busy, when will I find the time?

First off, as noted above, there’s no rule that says you have to post every day (or even every week) to your blog.  You can find a pace that works for you.  Also, chances are, you’re already generating content that could easily be re-purposed for a blog.  For example, we have a new client that is coming on board HubSpot that was already writing a newsletter.  The articles for this newsletter are perfect for posting on their blog.  Same time investment, multiple channels of value.  Don’t let the time investment scare you off.  Just try it.

Right just a few articles and see what happens.

Not only is it a place where you could express what is on your mind, but it is an excellent marketing tool for your business. It also compliments your company web site should you have one, which means that you’re ranking will improve, leading to more positive sales, and that’s what we all want to be happen.

These are a few very positive aspects I came upon;

Gain Visibility as a Thought Leader

Each thoughtful post on your blog is a public demonstration of your thought leadership, personal integrity, humor, and professional insights. You don’t have to refute one of Einstein’s theories to get respect. For example, a summary of recent trends in your industry, or a reaction to a recent news article can be an extremely effective blog posts.

Engage Customers in a Dialogue

If you blog using a solid blogging engine, readers will have the option to comment on each article. Folks who comment on your blog may be sales leads, or they may just challenge or support your views. Both way, comments beget comments, and you will soon be at the center of an industry-relevant dialogue with customers and partners.

With this in mind be very careful on which comments you approve. Automated SPAM robots are now taking the Internet by storm, and it is wise to hold all comments for moderation until approved. Read every comment carefully since some people hide links in the comment that can do your blog and image more harm than good.

Every Blog Article is an SEO Opportunity

The much-discussed “long tail” of search refers to highly specialized, low-traffic search terms that represent a significant amount of total searches. Translation: lots and lots of people are searching online for lots and lots of random things. You can’t realistically optimize your site for every long tail search term, but you can certainly write blog posts targeting niche keyword phrases that are likely to draw highly qualified prospects.

Blogs Are Link Bait

Very few web sites or bloggers will link to the “products and services” page on a corporate web site. People don’t link to corporate advertisements. On the other hand, a good blog article is an industry-specific insight or a thoughtful critique. Blog articles garner links because they are interesting, informative, and not overly corporate or sales-focused.

The benefit to you is that more links means better search engine rankings and more site traffic, which translates into more sales leads. Again be very careful with these links because you don’t want a link to a web site or blog that does not have anything in common with your products and/or services. One of the SEO aspects that many people forget is that your links has to be of a high quality.

Humanize Your Brand

Blogs offer an opportunity for you to present its insightful, helpful, thoughtful side. Through a blog, prospects will get a sense of your company’s people, culture, and vision. Blogs are an opportunity to provide a less antiseptic view of your company that is more personal and less “corporate”. Blogs can humanize your brand.

In Google, Fresher Content = Better Website

Google will periodically crawl web sites looking for new and updated content. In general, it is better to have Google crawl your site as often as possible. Sites that get crawled more often have more frequent updates and more authority. Blogging consistently ensures there will be fresh content on your site.

It is very important to remember that you should have valuable information on your blog because search engines also at it as a factor to determine your ranking. It will not help if your write the same story over and over just in another way to try and impress your readers. Content is one of the most important aspects in SEO and Page Ranking.

By using these few aspects in your business blogging you should see an increase in the leads to potential clients. This will not guarantee massive sales, but it will increase the trust worthiness your potential clients might have needed to be convinced to make use of your.

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Kathu Gazette

Project Review:

This is a web site for a regional newspaper in the Northern Cape. It features a lot of aspects and the site is updated live by the editor and the reporters. The advertisiments are updated weekly on Fridays.

Link:

http://www.kathugazette.com

Resources:

De Aar Environs

Project Review:

This is an information web site for the De Aar region, listing very useful information such as accommodation establishments, tourism attractions with general news and history about the surrounding towns.

Link:

http://www.deaarenvirons.co.za

Resources:

Kathu Primary School

Project Review:

The school wanted a straight forward web site that would display their information online.

Link:

http://www.laerskoolkathu.co.za

Resources:

Rotary Club of De Aar

Project Review:

It was a dream of Rina Edwards to have a web site for the Rotary Club of De Aar. So we made the dream come true.

Link:

http://www.deaarrotary.co.za

Resources:

Delport Saals

Project Review:

Johan is making saddles for many years and he just wanted a web site that could show visitors what he do. The client did not want anything fancy.

Link:

http://www.delportsaals.co.za

Resources:

Desert Dew

Project Review:

This client has the most beautiful shop I have ever seen. The complete shop is hand painted from floor level to the ceiling with breath taking Kalahari Scenery. The client wanted these art work incorporated in the website. I had to take photographs of the walls and edit it in such a way that it would still look wonderful. The wall paintings was hand painted by Fourie Ackerman.

Link:

http://www.desertdew.co.za

Resources:

Free Web Site Solutions:

Free web sites are normally a high risk option with very low value if you don’t do your homework before hand of the services that’s been offered to you. Which indirect mean that you will be wasting your valuable money? This is our opinion, because of the following facts.

• You will be charged a once off so called administration fee.
• You are going to be charged a monthly fee which is going to be deducted directly from your bank account, which was not mentioned to you when you signed the administration documents.
• Hosting fees are normally not included, and can cost you a lot of money.
• The free web site solution normally comes with a 2 year compulsory contract.
• You will not be able to have a web site as you wished, because you will have to choose from several pre-designed templates.
• Your web site will just consists of a few pages, 3 at the most.
• Your information is going to be added on the template and that’s what you will get.
• Important aspects;
  • You will never own the domain and it is normally not even a domain name close to your business name.
    • You will never know if your web site is SEO complaint.
    • Are your web site indexed and listed on search engines?
    • You may properly have no update facility.
    • You will never know how your web site performs.
    • You may not even see your web site when you search for it.

This is just some of the aspects that you will have to face when you choose the wrong “Free Web Site” option.

Paid Web Site Solutions:

On the other hand you can pay a web designer / company to design your web site according to your needs and you will have the following;

• You will be charged a design fee which normally includes;
  • Domain Registration – Which means it is your unique domain.
  • Hosting Fee – Which mean that your web site will be hosted for the first year.
  • Design Fee – The designer’s fee to design your web site.
• No monthly fees, except if the designer charge an update and/or  marketing fee.
• You will have access to your unique domain e-mail accounts.
• You will not find another web site on the internet that looks identical to yours, except if you liked a specific layout and asked that your site should be similar to that.
• You will be able to update your web site as your business grows.
• A good designer will provide you with a monthly report on the progress of your web site and discus important SEO aspects to improve your web site’s performance.
  • On this report you will see the important SEO results which will indicate if your web designer is good or an idiot.
• You will receive reaction from your web site and you will benefit from it.

This is just a few of the advantages of a “Paid Web Site” option, which is in the long term a very good Advertising Investment.

Many people are uninformed of the consequences of there decisions and with this in mind many designers make a quick bug out of you. Therefore we write these information bullets to make you aware of the potholes.

Choose your web designer with care and be sure that it is someone who can deliver and produce results.

We don’t claim to be SEO Experts, but our websites are our proof that what we do is correct and it is working for our clients. We provide an SEO service with our website solutions. We believe that a good web designer should handle this dedicated and delicate aspect. Your web designer is the person who design your website, who knows you and your business the best, and what your needs are.

Many web designers run away from this service because it is continuous hard work and takes hours of dedication and research. SEO consultants ain’t bad, but if they are not involved in the same company who is handling your web design then it is a lost case. Web design and SEO work hand in hand and it is something that has to be done from the beginning to the end in one complete step. After the website is launched it is important to constantly check for new trends and options to optimize your website.

A typical website owner is not expected to be knowledgeable about SEO and its benefits. Even if the owner knows SEO, he/she may not be sure how to choose an ethical SEO who can get the job done at the best rates and within time line. Choosing a SEO consultant or company for your website can be a tiring and overwhelming experience. Many SEO specialists will boast about adopting the latest path-breaking SEO techniques, use testimonials from clients and guarantees of #1 placements on Google. But how can you, as a non expert, select a genuine SEO consultant?

Listed below, are a few of the main pointers used to detect ‘fake’ SEO consultants.

#1 Google ranking for Website:

If any company guarantees you that they can place your website in the number one position on Google, then take my advice – RUN in the opposite direction. Nobody can guarantee this, and I mean nobody!

It’s obvious that the company is desperate to get business and is willing misleading you to get your hard earned cash. No company can make such claims. Google’s algorithms are one of the best kept secrets and it changes without notice regularly. As proof we did a test. We took two identical websites and SEO it identical to the last comma. We indexed them at the same time to the same search engines and waited. They did not perform the same, they did not get the same page rankings.

What SEO companies can do is optimize and promote the website according to widely known principles, intelligent guess work, best practices and lots of hard work. At most a company can claim that they can acquire good rankings such as top 10 results. But even then, verify their past track record to measure how they fared with other clients.

Very Low Prices:

Experts such as Aniruddha Badolla say the following;

“Many companies charge ridiculously low amount of money for a lot of services. As an astute business person, you can intelligently deduce that any work that requires hours and hours of hard work, research and analysis by a team of experts cannot come cheap. Most of the times, specialists from various fields such as programmers, content writers, SEO analyst, link builders etc. pool their resources to make a site successful on Google. Therefore quality services cannot come as cheap as many companies charge.“

But then on the other hand, you have to look at each and every company in a different way. If you buy groceries at a leading supermarket and you go to the next leading supermarket you might find some items cheaper and if you go to the following shop or supermarket it might be even more cheaper.

Does this mean that these are “fake” items of the same brand? Price is not the factor, it is what you get for the price, and most important it should be good quality service. Important factor is do your homework!

Secret and Proprietary Technique That Cannot be Revealed:

I don’t think we even need to elaborate on this. As the owner of the website, you should be aware of what’s happening to your site and what steps are been taken to optimize and promote it.

This is a very important aspect and we believe in an open client relationship we don’t keep secrets. We are communicating regularly with our clients to inform them on their websites status. We provide a progressive report on a website which display where the website is been listed, which search engines indexed your website, what keywords and keyword phrases visitors used to find you, how many visitors you received per month, what the impact of the previous SEO had. With this report we make suggestions how to improve your page ranking and search engine position.

This report serve as proof of our work and it will show our weak points where we need to improve. This is also a report that is fool proof, which mean we can’t change it in our favor, since it is generated by an independent log system. This system earn us good results and it gave confidence to our clients.

Recommending Black Hat Techniques:

Lot of companies recommends shady tactics known as black hat practices to get your site up in search engines. Not only do these practices have very short term benefits, but they can also be very counter productive since the search engines can eventually catch website following these practices. If your website is penalized by a leading search engine you will probably not even know it, and should you discover it, it will take a long time to reinstate your website to its full potential again.

Many websites big and small have been heavily penalized for using such techniques. We don’t use black hat techniques, because we do it legal and right from the first step to the last.

Using Outdated Techniques:

Once upon a time, techniques like reciprocal link exchange, keyword stuffing etc. were used to get good rankings. Google and other search engines have wizened up and rank a site for its worthiness and not just back links and keyword stuffing.

This is the part where we say that your web designer and SEO consultant, should your web designer don’t do SEO, should work close together. It is very important that your website is useful and display intelligent information to the visitor. Structure is very important to improve your SEO task and at the end good page ranking and search engine positioning.

We will recommends steps to make your site useful & relevant and not take short cuts.

Summary:

Keep these tips in mind while choosing a Web Design &  SEO company for your website and hopefully they will help you to select us, since we know the job and can handle your website promotion very well, and price is just a number not our customer count.

I hope that this helped you.

Regulations in Short

You are not allowed to use someone’s e-mail address to send him/her a marketing proposal if;

• you don’t know that recipient personally,
• or if that person is not registered on your mail list, legally,
  • it is against the law to;
    • register on behalf of a recipient on a mail list,
    • buy or sell mail lists from or to third parties,
  • these actions are called SPAM,
• The marketing and/or material that you send out to these recipients has to include the following;
  • that they receive the e-mail because they are subscribed to your mail list,
  • facility to unsubscribe from your mail list,
• The information in the newsletter / marketing material should not be;
  • obscene or porno graphical,
  • encourage violence or hatred speech,
  • political motivated

Should you wish to familiarize yourself with the relevant legislation, a copy of the ECT Act is available on-line via the South African Government’s web site,  http://www.gov.za/gazette/acts/2002/a25-02.pdf

How do I obtain a Mail List?

The best way is to ask your designer to provide an on-line form on your web site where visitors can register as members of your mail list,

• if your web site is well designed and your content are of value then you should have no problem to get visitors to register as members,

The other way is to contact mail list administrators and ask them if they are willing to promote you once in their next newsletter, which is not always very successful but worth trying,

• in your application you should be very specific about the following;
  • assure that the mail list administrator you are contacting are not in the same or similar business environment, your direct opposition will not help you,
  • stipulate how you are and what your business is all about,
  • what products and services you offer,
  • a link to your web site will be convincing, because then the administrator can visit your web site and decide if they will grant you the favour,
  • a small thing that might win you the favour is to offer the administrator a link in your next newsletter that will lead visitors back to him,
• mail list administrators normally don’t do this, but if they consider your application, they will put a link to your web site on their next newsletter which will lead their mail list recipients to you where they can register themselves on your mail list.
• Never buy a mail list from anybody because it’s;
  • illegal to buy or sell personal contact details from or to a third party,
  • you will waist your money because most of the details on the list are incorrect or duplicated.

SPAM is a serious matter and it can cause you a lot of trouble, be aware of these facts and laws.

1. Know the audience: The design of your website should cater specifically to your target market both in the visual sense, and in usability. It is critical that the design of your website reflect the values that your potential customers will hold.

2. Personalize: Even if your website is designed by the greatest professionals in the business, if you do not allow your customers to get to know you, or to believe in you, you will have difficulty selling your ideas.

3. No uncertain terms: Clearly identify what the purpose is for your website, and ensure that every facet of your website focuses on this goal. Are you conveying a message, selling a product or offering a service? Make this obvious from the beginning, and keep your focus until the end.

4. Keep it quick: You have between ten and thirty seconds to capture the attention of your customer, so keep graphics small in order to minimize the time it takes to load your website. Compress images when possible, so that your loading times stay low.

5. Design is important, content is more so: Good content is what sells your ideas and products. Is your copy delivering the message you intended for it to? Grammar and spelling ARE important; so proofread everything you write before it goes live.

6. Map your Site: You can make your website’s navigation much more easy and intuitive simply by creating a site map, or a directory web page. If your customer cannot navigate your website quickly or easily enough to find what they came for, they will go elsewhere for solutions.

7. Strive for consistency: Your website should be consistent in the design, the look and the feeling. Colors, themes and ideas should stay constant throughout every page on the website to make the best impression on your visitors.

8. Keep track of links: You should make sure that your site is fully functional at all times, which means checking out your website links on a fairly regular basis. If you have dead links on your site, there is no telling how much of a negative impact will transfer to your search engine page ranking, or the opinion your visitors have of your website.

9. Make a simple start: When you begin your site, take everything one page at a time, and optimize each page for the best results before moving on to the next. This means that you should make sure that every page is perfect before leaving it for the next one.

10. Optimize: The top search engines are responsible for helping more than 85-percent of all web users to find exactly what they are looking for. If you want to be one of the websites that is considered when users look for similar products or information, you must make sure that your pages are designed to maximize your search engine placement.

These are not the only rules that I apply when I design a web site, they are just the most important ones I use. Feel free to use them in your projects and I can assure you, you will have good end results.

• page ranking is displayed in a count out of 10,
  • 0 = no page ranking
  • 1-3 = average ranking
  • 4-6 = good ranking
  • 7-10 = excellent ranking
• Page ranking is determined by the following aspects of a page within a website;
  • the content of the information supplied,
  • the layout and search engine friendliness of your page,
  • the search engine optimization (SEO) that’s been done on the appropriate page.

The lower your page ranking are the less important the search engine value your web page. This will mean that your website will not be within the first 20 results listed on a specified topic. Which means you will not be found, since most visitors don’t bother to go further than two result page on a particular topic.

I hope that this helped you.

• Link exchange is when two website administrators are hosting a link to each others websites. This means that if you are visiting A you will be able to visit B by clicking on the link and the other way round.

There are a few very important things to remember when you are taking part in link exchange programs,

• you have to choose web sites to link to that will benefit your website,
  • if you are selling computers you don’t link to a dog food site,
    • you will rather link to IT Solutions Specialists
  • it is important to look at the page ranking of the web site you want to link to,
    • you don’t link to a site with a lower ranking, because the search engine will penalize you,
    • you rather link to a site with similar page ranking or higher, this way the search engine will value your attempt to provide valuable information,

These links have to be checked regularly to see if they are still available and if their page ranking had improved or not. Search engines penalizes websites that link to non exciting websites or to websites that’s been suspended. Link Exchange is one of the easiest ways to improve your page ranking and to obtain more visitors, but it has to be checked constantly.

• you have the knowledge and the software to do so,
• if you registered your domain at a hosting company,
• if you have internet access to upload your website to the server.

Disadvantage of this action,

• after many hours in designing your website may have many internal errors that you don’t know of which will;
  • effect the way the search engines react to your site, they may even blacklist your website,
  • your visitors might not visit your site again due to these errors,
  • it might not display correctly,
  • some aspects may not work,
  • listing and indexing websites will become a problem because everybody is rejecting your website due to the errors and/or missing criteria,

It will trouble you and you would not know why your website is not working for you, it is better to get the professionals to do the job.

Web designing has become a professional and specified field and it is enforced by numerous institutions. Search engines will penalize your website if it does not contain certain criteria. This is to ensure that only the best websites are always listed first when an Internet user is searching for information, regardless of how nice and stunning your website look.

How many pages can my website have?

This is a very good question and it is very important to take note about these facts. There are no specific regulation for this, but it is good practice not to waist pages.

During the Planning Stage of your website you will have to determine how many pages your site will have. It is important to assure that your website is streamline and that you don’t have any duplications. Additional pages can always be added at a later stage, should it be necessary.

It is good practice to have at least the following pages;

• Introduction
• More about you/your business
• Your Products
• Your Services
• Contact Details

Then it is very important to include the following pages. These pages are important and will protect you in the case of lawsuit.

• Terms and Conditions
• Disclaimers

To improve your page ranking and to assist your visitors and make your website more user friendly you have to include the following pages.

• Site Map
• Links

Your web designer will assist you to assure that your web pages are streamline, search engine friendly and most importantly visitor friendly.

When should I update my website?

This is something that you have to decide for yourself, because you will know when things change in your business. It is actually very important that your website is always up to date, and the search engines actually check when last your site was updated.

Many clients don’t believe it but a well updated website do perform better than a neglected website.

The following are only some of the most neglected features that are not updated regularly;

• Forums & bloggs
• calendar feature,
• price lists,
• products and service descriptions and features,
• contact details,
• portfolio’s.

I hope that this helped you.

Without these identification marks the search engines can’t determine where to list your website neither will they be able to determine when to sent a visitor to your site. This is one of the most vulnerable and important aspects of any website.

Should I use a designer that doesn’t have SEO skills?

It is totally up to you to use the designer of your choice. We believe that you should not use such a designer because you will have to find somebody else to do the SEO.

This is going to cost you more money and many times SEO can’t be done properly due to the layout and content of your web pages. If your web designer is SEO Certified then he/she will take care of everything from the beginning and you will have nothing to worry about.

When should I do SEO?

We believe that it should be done when you’re website is designed so that when the search engine find your website for the first time, everything should be in place assuring you the best ranking from the beginning.
I hope that this helped.

When I started to do domain hosting and registration I did some research and I came upon this article of Robin Elderd and I use this guidelines to choose a domain name.

Qualities of a Good Domain Name

Choosing a good domain name is crucial.

This can lead to the success or failure of your business. You may wonder how something so small and slight could have an impact on your business, but the best way to compare this is to think about how important location is to an off-line business? If you do not have a good location, you are likely not going to get many visitors. The same holds true for a good domain name as well.

Here, you will discover six qualities that a good domain name must have to ensure maximum success.

1.) Memorable
A good domain name must be memorable. Yes, we have the option of bookmarking a site that we enjoy; however, the hard truth is that many people do not take advantage of bookmarking. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that your domain name is one that is easy to remember and makes an impact. It should be easy, memorable, and straight forward. Avoid complexity and it is usually a good idea to avoid initials in most cases. The only exception to this rule would be if the letters represented the web site name or business and was still easy to remember.

2.) Short and Sweet
Twenty characters is the maximum that you should use for a good domain name, ten is even better. A long and complicated domain name is not going to help you. Your best bet is to keep it short and sweet. A great domain name is less than ten characters; a good domain name is less than twenty characters. A bad domain name goes over twenty characters.

3.) Be Choosy On Your Extension
There are several domain extensions available to you such as .co.za, .com, .net, .org, .tv, .info, .gov and so on. However, some of these work better than others and are more memorable at the same time. It is important to understand that some extensions also have restrictions such as .gov is reserved specifically for government web sites. The .com domain name extension is the best by far, because it is the most widely used.

The .net extension is the second best, but be prepared most people will type .com before they will .net if they cannot remember which extension you use. The type of extension you use might also have a bearing on the type of web site. Some people have come to expect certain things when a particular extension. For example, .org is typically used by not-for-profit organization and educational web sites. The .info extensions are generally used for informational web sites and .co.za is commonly used for South African web sites.

4.) Spelling Means Everything
Having a difficult to spell domain name could cause you some trouble. Again, many do not even make use of bookmarks; therefore, if your domain name is hard to spell, they may end up at a competitor’s web site. A good domain name contains only words that are easy to pronounce, have a good combination of words or letters that are used in every day language, and does not contain foreign words that may be difficult to nonnative speakers.

5.) Tells a Story
A good domain name should be descriptive and tell a story. In other words, when your visitors, customers, or potential customers see your domain name they should instantly be able to tell what they are going to find. For instance, if it is your business, a business name is good.

6.) Avoid Fancy Symbols
It is never a good idea to use numbers or hyphens within your domain name. Even if your domain name is memorable, many people will not pay attention to the symbols, which could lead them to someone else’s web site.

I hope that this helped you.

A good web designer will be able to tell you immediately if your domain is available or not, and if not he will be able to determine the following;

• find out how is the owner of this domain name
  • if it is a non active domain,
    • your designer can contact this owner and ask if you can get this domain,
      • if the owner want to sell the domain, you have to pay the owners price,
  • if it is an active domain,
    • then there are nothing that you can do about it.

Your designer or hosting service provider will then have to try to find an alternative name to use as your domain, but it is still very important to make sure that your domain is related to you.

• try the following options,
  • use a “-” to separate two words,
    • nc-tech.co.za
    • nc-technicalservices.co.za
  • change the extension from .co.za to .com or .net
    • this is actually a very sensitive aspect;
      • if the domain name is available as .co.za take it and register the domain name as a .com also.
      • this my sound stupid to you, but here is the scenario;
        • You have registered your domain as jjsfreelancing.co.za and you are very happy about everything and you start to do business. In the beginning it all went well and then all of a sudden your sales drop and you get less reactions on your website. Although you have a stunning website that’s been optimized and everything that should be in place are in tacked and you even have a good page ranking.
        • A domain thief has registered jjsfreelancing.com and he’s website is now grabbing all your visitors because of the following reason,
          • not all search engines freely except .co.za domains to be listed and indexed in their databases. So the thief with the .com domain are having the benefit because he has a .com domain and he is getting all your visitors you should have had because the search engine give the .com domain more advantages than the .co.za.
    • Also read the following articles
      • “Domain name .co.za or .com”
      • “Domain grabbers”
        
  • use an abbreviation of the domain name
    • if your company’s name is Northern Cape Technical Services
      • Try some of the following names
        • ncts.co.za
        • nctech.co.za
        • nctechservices.co.za

I hope that this helped.

A domain prefix identifies the origin of a domain and it sometimes penalize the website, without the owner knowing it. The South African domain prefix is .co.za and this has many disadvantages for specific websites, unknown to South African website owners. South Africa does not have the infrastructure to maintain a proper search engine neither the ability to keep it updated. So, all South African website owners has to rely on the existing and excellent search engines abroad. This is where the disadvantages start. Many of these search engines that could have had a significant impact on these .co.za websites are rejecting it, because of the .co.za prefix.

But on the other hand should your website have a .com prefix it is not a problem and almost any search engine will except your listing. The only search engines that will reject your website are the one’s that are dedicated to certain regions and/or specific topic related aspects.

This brings us to the question .co.za or .com?

You should ask yourself the following questions and use the following guidelines which will help you to determine which domain prefix you should use.

International Prefix: .com

• Do I want International visitors?
  • Would they benefit from my services?
  • Would I be able to assist them?
• Would I like to do business with International clients?
  • Do I have the infrastructure to export my products?
  • Do I have the infrastructure to except International currencies?
• Do I see my business as an International Business in the future?

If your answer was “Yes” to all these questions then rather use the .com prefix.

We personally also suggest a .com prefix to the following businesses and/or organizations since international clients will benefit from this should they visit South Africa;

• Restaurants
• Accommodation Related Venues
• Tourism Attractions
• Informational Venues
• Technical and Service Provides
• Import & Export Venues

South Africa Prefix: .co.za

• Will your website’s main purpose be to get more publicity?
• Do you only want a website to gain more local business?
• Do you only want to concentrate on the South African market?
• Are you really serious about Internet Marketing or do you just want to try it out?
• Do you only want a website because your clients ask about it, or your opposition has one?

If you answered “Yes” to these question then a .co.za prefix will be suitable for you.

Summary:

As I said in the beginning, this article is not to cause panic, neither to point fingers but only to serve as a basic guideline. It is a fact that a .com domain prefix has more advantages than a .co.za, but you have to be careful when you make your choice.

Should you choose a .com prefix you will be exposed to more international clients and you will have to be able to assist them. It will also take your website one step ahead of your opposition, but with caution because this can cause your business more negative publicity should you not be able to assist your clients and/or visitors.

Should you choose a .co.za domain prefix you will still be exposed, but with less traffic and visitors. This will give you the ability to assist your clients and visitors much better, since they are local. If you have a web designer that know how to design a proper website this solution will be within your needs.

The final decision of which domain prefix to use has to be made by you the domain owner yourself.

I hope this article helped you.